Abstract

Covalent doping of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) can modify their optical properties, enabling applications as single-photon emitters and bio-imaging agents. We report here a simple, quick, and controllable method for preparing oxygen-doped SWCNTs with desirable emission spectra. Aqueous nanotube dispersions are treated at room temperature with NaClO (bleach) and then UV-irradiated for less than one minute to achieve optimized O-doping. The doping efficiency is controlled by varying surfactant concentration and type, NaClO concentration, and irradiation dose. Photochemical action spectra indicate that doping involves reaction of SWCNT sidewalls with oxygen atoms formed by photolysis of ClO− ions. Variance spectroscopy of products reveals that most individual nanotubes in optimally treated samples show both pristine and doped emission. A continuous flow reactor is described that allows efficient preparation of milligram quantities of O-doped SWCNTs. Finally, we demonstrate a bio-imaging application that gives high contrast short-wavelength infrared fluorescence images of vasculature and lymphatic structures in mice injected with only ~100 ng of the doped nanotubes.

Details

Title
Creating fluorescent quantum defects in carbon nanotubes using hypochlorite and light
Author
Ching-Wei, Lin 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Bachilo, Sergei M 2   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Zheng, Yu 2 ; Tsedev, Uyanga 3   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Huang, Shengnan 4   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Weisman, R Bruce 5   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Belcher, Angela M 6   VIAFID ORCID Logo 

1  The David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA 
2  Department of Chemistry and the Smalley-Curl Institute, Rice University, Houston, TX, USA 
3  The David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA; Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA 
4  The David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA; Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA 
5  Department of Chemistry and the Smalley-Curl Institute, Rice University, Houston, TX, USA; Department of Materials Science and NanoEngineering, Rice University, Houston, TX, USA 
6  The David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA; Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA; Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA 
Pages
1-9
Publication year
2019
Publication date
Jun 2019
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20411723
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-10917-3
ProQuest document ID
2249019632
Copyright
© 2019. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.